There are numerous applications in which it is desirable to display an image on an electronic device. For example, when the user of an electronic device is viewing information from a service provider, displaying a logo or card image of the service provider gives the user a feeling of security and familiarity when viewing the information.
An application in which it is particularly desirable to display a familiar product image of a service provider is when generating a display of a cardholder's bankcard, that may represent an original physical plastic card. FIGS. 1a and 1b show card images of the front face of bankcards. FIGS. 1c and 1d show card images of the rear face of bankcards.
The generation of the images shown in FIGS. 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d allow card images to be displayed by, for example, a mobile telephone. This solves the problem of a cardholder having to carry a physical card since the virtual card displayed on the mobile telephone can be presented instead.
In order for an electronic device to display a specific image, the displayed image must be retrievable either from an internal memory in the electronic device or by the electronic device from an external source.
A problem with storing images on an electronic device is that the electronic device must have a large storage capacity if it is to be able to store all possible images that may be required to be displayed. Providing a large storage capacity is especially difficult with a portable electronic device. In addition, the images that are required to be displayed may be new images not already stored by the electronic device, or modified versions of existing images.
For an electronic device to display any image, it is therefore preferable for the image to be communicated to the electronic device from an external source.
A problem with known techniques for providing an electronic device with a specific image for display is that the electronic device has no way of verifying the trustworthiness of the received image. If a malicious party conducts, for example, a Domain Name System, DNS, attack, this can result in the electronic device receiving and displaying an incorrect image. This may be highly embarrassing and cause reputational damage to a service provider, such as a bank, if a wholly inappropriate image was displayed.